Buttons

When I grew up I used to love my mom’s button-box. In it were all kinds of pretty buttons and you could rummage your fingers through them and feel their smoothness and hear the rattling sound they made.

Now I have my own and I still like it for the same reasons. However, it’s not of much use to me. When I buy buttons in thrift stores, I’ll go after the prettiest and most extravagant ones n’est-ce pas? Which is fine, I might find a use for them, but usually what I need is to replace one button that’s lost and then I’d need a reather plain one. And if I am to use the flashy ones,  there’s never enough of them, is there?

Right now I’m sitting on two UF’os that need 5 buttons each. Seems I’m gonna have to head for the fabric store anyways, despit me treasure chest at home

Pants! Pants! Pants!

So I finally finished my second pair of culottes and I look forward to loving them as much as my first pair which turned out to be a hit.

Now I’ve made quite an effort with these, I decided to line them which I’ve never bothered to do before, but since the fabric is pretty thin I figured it was necessary. I used a beautiful robin blue lining from my stash and used an orange colored zipper- I love how the two colors clash!

They’ve got a very small hem as I wanted to use the pretty gold print at the edge of the fabric. I was a bit worried that this wouldn’t be heavy enough and make them shapeless, but I think it works.

Headpiece

Nothing like deadlines for finishing things. I needed this headpiece for a show, I was doing several numbers and wanted flowers in my hair for one of them. I had thought about it for quite a while an in the end I decided to use chicken wire for a base. That way I could bend it into shape and it would also be easy to fasten things onto it. I thought the sharp edges of the uncut wire would hurt me and/or eat their way through the covering fabric so I cut some leather to line it with., but that turned out to be too stiff and the wire alone actually worked fine.

The fabric is a velvety kind I had in my stash. I had originally thought of linen, but I didn’t have any, and as it turned out the velvety fabric was great since it held the headpiece in place without any bobby pins.

I didn’t have time to sew that many flowers onto the thing in the end, just one, but maybe some other time!

Bees in the bonnet

Lately, these last few months or so, I’ve started several project and finished almost none.

This has been due to several reasons such as lack of time or energy and warm weather never setting in, but also what I call the WTF factor.

When I start making something, it’s always with a very vague idea of what the finished item will look like. Yeah sure, I have the material, and sometimes a pattern as well, sometimes even a pattern with a photo on it, but still. The picture shows someone else with a thing made from a different fabric- I don’t have the mind to see myself or my future finished thing. So I’ll set to work, usually with a happy, confident stride and when the time comes to try it on I’ll think- WTF! This isn’t what I had in mind! This is of course because I only had a very vague idea to start with, so it’s virtually impossible to meet my very etherical expectations. Also, the item will look “bad” because it’s a sketch, you know what I mean, it has no buttons so I’m holding it together, or it hasn’t had it’s curves cut, whatever. What I’m getting at is that at this point I need to start my problem solving and go on. And this is actually quite often fun, although sometimes I get caught in blaming my lack of skills or my general hybris by taking on more than I can handle.

Now lately when I’d abandoned so many projects at this point I didn’t give myself the chance to show I can do this, I didn’t give myself the satisfaction that finishing something usually does, I didn’t give myself the challenge of actually solving the riddle, I just left. In short, I wasn’t being nice to myself.

So this bonnet had to be made for a show this Friday, no pattern, made from whatever was at hand at home, and by Jove, it’s done!

Starting over

Lately I seem to have even more difficulties  finishing things than i usually do. I can’t remember when I finished something last. I do know when the last time I started a new project happened, though- it’s today!

I’m making a dance top, sort of like an Indian choli. Constructing a new pattern by merging and modifying old ones. This is one of the things I enjoy most of all when it comes to sewing, but to actually wear the things I make is kinda fun too. Let’s see if this one ever come that far.

Fringes or golden blouse part II

Well I washed the blouse as suggested by Felicia and you’ll be glad to know the water stains disappeared. Yay! So did most of the shiny finish, but I was sort of expecting that to happen.

What I didn’t expect was that the edges I hadn’t zig-zaged practically disintegrated. We’re talking a gentle hand wash in the basin here.

I’ll have to re-sew the collar and I’ll carefully zig-zag every edge. But I will not be defeated. I WILL wear this blouse.

Water damage

I cut a blouse from a vintage pattern I’ve wanted to use for some time now, but always hesitated because really, those waists! I never had a waist like that and I certainly don’t know. Of course they’re meant to be worn with a corset but still.  I figured if I ignored the fitting folds in the back it might actually work.

Because the one side is really shiny, I thougyt it best to check if it would work to spray water on when ironing the seams and it was fine. I ‘m quite often good and irons every seam as I make it, but this time I was lazy and sew several before pressing. After i finished I realized that splashing water on it actually wan’t ok, it had gotten water stained. I’m assuming this is a cotton, it doesn’t feel like silk and it’s one of the fabrics my sister brought me from India so there is a limited supply.

Yes I know fabrics should always be washed behore using.

I can’t decide now if I should make a new one or proceed with the this one and hope the stains don’t show much.